Job: Opera singer, Atlanta
What I do: Kathye J. Gary has sung in some of the most famous opera houses in the world, but she returns regularly to sing in her church choir. "I just knew I was born to sing," said Gary, who is in her mid-40s.
No matter where she sings, it starts with lengthy preparations. "I will never go on a stage unprepared," she said. The day before a performance, she doesn't talk so that she can rest her vocal cords. She starts the morning of a performance day by humming to gently massage and warm up her voice.
While drinking "water, water, water" throughout the day, she pampers herself in the morning before sitting at the piano at midafternoon for more intense vocalizing, such as singing scales.
She sings or listens to all the music for that evening's performance before arriving at the theater a couple of hours before the show to let her body and vocal cords get acclimated to the environment. If there's too much dust, for example, she'll ask theater employees to spray the air and dusty areas. Then, she warms up again -- "really intense this time" -- at full voice before retiring to her dressing room to pray, meditate and give thanks for her talent, she said.
"When you sing, you must stay focused," she said. But almost immediately, there is the distraction of her dressers as she gets into costume.
Ten minutes before the curtain goes up, "you really get the jitters," because the audience is coming to hear you, and you have to give it your best. "Once the curtain opens, it's the Lord and me. It's like heaven on stage."
What got me interested in this: Gary's mother took her to her first opera, "Madame Butterfly," when she was 7. "I didn't sit the whole opera," she said. "I heard the most gorgeous sounds."
She had been singing since she was 4, and, at age 9, she announced to her family, "I am going to be an opera singer."
As a black girl, she faced discrimination from voice teachers in her hometown in South Carolina, so she and her mother studied singing, posture and opera from library books. She performed her first public solo in fifth grade. She sang with church choirs and school music groups in middle and high school.
She earned her degree in marketing from Morris Brown College, with a minor in electrical engineering. Her love for singing didn't end, and it wasn't long before she began private voice lessons and auditions.
Best part of my job: While singing opera in Europe is special -- "you feel the music in the air," and Europeans cater to performers -- Gary most enjoys her monthly solos at Mount Carmel Baptist Church and singing with the chancel choir at Cascade United Methodist Church.
Most challenging part: Dealing with a role written for her. Gary starred in the Americolor Opera production of "Madame C.J.," the story of the first female African-American millionaire, Madame C.J. Walker of Atlanta.
Gary said that she has learned to act and dance for operas.
What people don't know about my job: "I can't just get up and sing," she said. Performing at the level that is expected of her requires lengthy preparation, not unlike an athlete warming up.
What keeps me going: "My faith, clearly," she said. She also gives credit to her supportive husband of seven years, Robert Adams.
Preparation needed for this job: Gary's intensive voice instruction was all by private lessons, often three days a week. She said she studied for three years. "It was like going back to school all over," she said.
When her instructors thought she was ready, she began auditioning. For more than 15 years, she has been a soloist for organizations and at public events, including the presentation of the Olympic flag to Atlanta in 1992. Her first opera performance was in "Porgy and Bess" in 1994.
- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.